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Trand.
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May 7, 2016 02:50
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Definitely Trand. It'll be a learning experience from Knight, talking to someone on the opposite side of weirdness vs seriousness.
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May 7, 2016 02:53
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Flavio for no other reason than the fact that his name popped up in my head first.
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May 7, 2016 02:56
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I don't have any problems with your narrative, and I don't really have any problems with Tyler. Besides, I just gave you an inspiration for a character, I don't really care about how you portray him. As far as I am concerned, he is your character to write with as you please. As for hanging out, Bertrand.
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May 7, 2016 03:20
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While it's a shame Nadia hasn't been voted in more, if she's not an amazing character, it's like whatever, she'll see more use later on. Hopefully. But seeing everyone's EO LPs makes me really believe that a non-narrative would be pretty dry and uninteresting, at least for someone who's played all the games. I really do like the characters and it's a lot of fun reading the updates, though to begin with I had some trouble remembering all of them, cause drat there's a lot of classes in this game  Fetus and Ragnar, you're doing great work! Anyway, it's hard to choose, cause I love everyone, except maybe not Arianna, but she's not boring like Simon, or uggggggggh like Arthur, so we'll go Trand, cause Chloe can become a little bit one note if you focus on her too much.
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May 7, 2016 03:26
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I'm sorry Chloe, but Trand is best story mode character
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May 7, 2016 06:10
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Dr. Fetus posted:Now that you've seen the Story party in action for another Stratum, which Story mode character do you think Knight should spend more time with? Regina
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May 7, 2016 06:29
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Update 39: Things Get Serious at the End Hi yes hello again! I'm back from two weeks of final projects and final exams! It was very annoying and stressful but it's all over now! Let's celebrate by going through 19F.  Your guess is as good as mine as to what that floor subtitle means. Take note of that symbol in the background, by the way--it's irrelevant now, but it'll become important again later, in the postgame. SYSTEM: It could be seen as a foothold... You can try mustering your courage and stepping onto it. https://zippy.gfycat.com/WeeBogusAdeliepenguin.webm (GIF version) SYSTEM: It seems as if these footholds can take you straight forward in the direction that you embark upon them. Making good use of these should show you a way deeper into this 4th Stratum... Now that you know this, you check your position and plot your route forward. Platforms really are as simple as that: as soon as you step on them, they will move in the direction you stepped on them until they hit an obstacle.  Oh christ. At least Ranger only ate one of the hits. Doing this too often chews through both Stardust and Rheine's TP really quickly, but that's preferable to dying to these goddamn moths. Oh for god's sake. That could've gone real south, real quick, if the left moth had used Slice and Dice while Stardust and Rheine were panicked.  Diatryma HP: 460, STR: 36, TEC: 26, VIT: 29, AGI: 25, LUC: 26 Skills:
Disable resistances: A bird with a gigantic mouth. If one is slain, its kin will frenzy! I'd be more worried about Diatrymas if they could perform any actions besides normal attacks. The only other notable thing about them is that they're one of the few bird enemies that doesn't have a Stab and/or Volt weakness. Like, yeah, their normal attacks hurt, but consider that Ranger's VIT is really terrible and, most importantly, he's still alive. We've already seen a Wrath Bloom before, but I didn't post its stats back then.  Wrath Bloom HP: 1590, STR: 39, TEC: 40, VIT: 32, AGI: 28, LUC: 32 Skills:
Disable resistances: An electrically charged plant creature that has grown large on devoured adventurers. Wrath Blooms are one-trick ponies that really only become dangerous if they get to use Cannibalize before you can kill them. Rafflesias at least had a (then-dangerous) poison in combination with their party-target nuke. Also I've been following some weird consistency with regards to enemy images up until now--I've been using lovely game crops for normal enemies, and switched to using renders for FOEs/bosses a few months ago. I kept using the crops because some of the random encounter models have really bad deformations in the 3DS model viewer I'm using. That changes from here on out--I'm gonna use renders whenever I can, with reduced size--that is to say, for any enemy that doesn't deform badly in the model viewer. Stardust is my go-to nuker, but she can only do so much when she's using a level 1 skill against a 100% resistance. Blech. It's not often you see Link Order hurt more than its activator. It's even less often you see a Sabre dealing the most damage of any action in a turn. At this point, I remembered that Stardust got a level up earlier, and I put another point into Formula Mastery for +1% extra bonus damage. Exciting. Enraged Raptors are the other primary gimmick of 19F. They start at either the north or south ends of the map, with a certain spawn point for each one, and then they move several tiles in one direction for every step we take. This one you see right now is very easy to evade, but the others later on aren't quite as easy. Notice how I left that previous area by taking this platform to the left, and am now going forward on it--finding ways to travel different directions with the same platform isn't just a gimmick for this floor, it'll reappear in the last part of this stratum, as well as in some postgame sections. Chop point. Oh goddammit. Any encounter with a Great Moth in it is annoying, but this one is extra annoying because Cannibalize won't take off much of the Great Moth's HP, and Confusing Dust can leave the party helpless while the Wrath Bloom spams Discharge at us. Pictured: one of the aforementioned sections where Enraged Raptor puzzles are more complicated. This one zips up a one-tile pathway, meaning that starting down that path at the wrong time can trap you.  I felt it was time to go back to town to rest up and save. And since the Frozen Petal was what Academic obsessions needed, Abigail has dialogue for us. The EO world already has electricity, I don't see how any of the technology Cass mentioned could be that far off. Decent rewards all around. I replace Realga's Pointy Hat with the Brio Wrist for the reasons I mentioned above. Hazy Arrow now deals 538% damage.  I walked into FOEbucks to see what recipes I could make, and Regina had something to say as soon as we entered. And the scene just ends there. Let's get cooking. Forest Fried Rice restores 5% of someone's maximum TP when they are inflicted with an ailment or bind. If a single action inflicts multiple disables, the amount restored is not increased. An absolutely trash effect with basically no use. Scorpion Green Pasta increases the chance of escaping from a battle by 10%. This is a completely negligible effect unless you are consistently running away from battles, which is a really awful thing that you should stop doing, hypothetical escaping strawman. Honey German Potato increases all party members' AGI by 10. That's a pretty big damage boost for Survivalists and Gunners, and could put some classes on the cusp of outspeeding certain enemies beyond the threshold otherwise. Nope. Goodbye! Wuh-oh. I'm not taking my chances with trying to run from the Enraged Raptor--that thing could've easily killed everyone in the span of two turns or so. This platform, thankfully, can be ridden like this to bypass the Raptor puzzle over there. In fact, we have to ride it like that, since platforms just act like solid tiles if you walk onto them from a direction where they're blocked from moving. SYSTEM: The man who speaks to you now is one of the winged ones... But he seems different from the others. He is well-dressed and has a noble bearing about him. The man glares at you for an achingly long time, then speaks in harsh tones. SYSTEM: The chief of the winged ones crosses his arms and blocks your path forward. SYSTEM: It seems you must return to the Duke's Palace to inquire after this Ancient Periapt. Money money money! I trade some recycled trash for a level 9 Order Mastery for Rheine, since that was the only thing on Grimoire Trade I was kind of interested in. Oh, right, FOEbucks dialogue. And now, normal 20F dialogue. You could reasonably interpret this as a gentle reminder to the player to do quests, since quests are needed not just to do certain postgame quests, but you actually need to do a certain quest later on to do any of the postgame at all. Normal dialogue time. Very insightful. Normal dialogue. Normal dialogue. Bar patrons. Exhausted Tramonte: Girl in a white sundress:  Normal dialogue. Dubois starts talking as soon as we enter. Here it is: the final mission. Dubois's FOEbucks dialogue. Normal dialogue. Quests time! Settling a bet: We can't finish this quest until 21F. Call of the gunner: I'm thankful I suffered through doing the 1st Stratum secret area as early as I did--Artelinde's at the very end of it, just before the big empty area in the 1F secret area. An ethical dilemma: I'd go do what Cass said, but this is a good stopping point for now. Next time: the stuff that we just heard about. Winged intrigue! Abigail being concerned about something! Doing a request for someone that tried to kill us! All very exciting things.
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May 15, 2016 09:16
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I like that they're doing more with the people who guarded the Ice Princess.
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May 16, 2016 01:13
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Oh right, I forgot I held a vote for the inn scene order. Oops.  RareAcumen posted:Regina I'm counting this as a half vote for Chloe, because I need something to break the tie. The results are: Bertrand: 5 Flavio: 1 Chloe: 1/2 Arianna: RIP Arianna places last once again. 
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May 16, 2016 01:27
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Dr. Fetus posted:Bertrand: 5 My one vote earned me second place. You see this? This is how democracy works.
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May 16, 2016 20:54
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Update 40: I Lust for FOE Death We begin today by starting An ethical dilemma.      SYSTEM: There is a small indentation in the floor, and you see a monstrous chick sitting inside, covered in fluff. The chick curls up without the slightest peep. It just watches you stubbornly, staring with deep, black eyes. Do you remember the quest that you accepted from Abigail? She wanted you to find and feed the juvenile monster whose parents were slain. No threatening monsters appear to be in the vicinity... This must be the baby monster described in the request. You examine the chick anew. Upon second glance, it looks much thinner than normal, and its movement is languid and sluggish. SYSTEM: When it comes down to it, though, this chick may grow up to be a monster that will fight you like all others... If you are still unfazed, you can feed this baby monster with the special feed you received from Abigail. SYSTEM: When you extend your hand with the feed, the chick shows no sign of suspicion--it just digs in, eating the offered meal. It is a monster, and will thus come into conflict with explorers. In other words, you are helping, and indeed saving an enemy. However, your graciousness in providing for even your foes in their times of need is truly noble and praiseworthy. Abigail's pure heart, moved by the idle account of a passing adventurer, is also deserving of recognition. The chick finishes its meal. It seems to have regained some of its energy. You let out a sigh, relieved that it has recovered. To your surprise, it spreads its stubby wings and takes off. SYSTEM: Wide-eyed, you note the near-instant convalescence. If it can fly away thusly, then you need no longer worry for it. You have completed your request! You should go back to report to Abigail and tell her what happened.  We don't actually have to talk to Abigail first, we can just turn the quest in now.     Let's go tell Abigail what we did.   Running into all these Great Moths has given me an incentive to level up Refresh some more. Level 4 just reduces the TP cost from 4 to 2.  Ranger has all the attack skills I want from him now, so I start leveling up Force Mastery. It unlocked Vital and Mind Shut, neither of which I care about, and passively increases Ranger's Force gain by 3%.  Morale Boost now increases buffed party members' Force gain by 10% while Rheine is alive.  I remembered that I collected the previous ad campaign's earnings without setting up a new one; let's fix that.   The Gourmet King is in the Slums right now, so I just toss in the dish I have that costs the most.    There's a festival going on in Uptown, too.   Some random town development, mostly because the West Ward had only one small population group in it.    And that's the last of the campaigns for now.       And here's the stuff I got from offloading our current materials.        SYSTEM: The guard pauses, then goes on... and kept right on marchin' past that locked door. SYSTEM: He looks worriedly at the locked doors. SYSTEM: Having said his piece, the guard moves back toward his position. It's up to you whether to resume your journey, or to follow the guard's direction and go beyond the doors.   SYSTEM: It is the lady you've been seeking... Surprised to see you, she addresses your party.  SYSTEM: You falter slightly at the intensity and coldness of her stare... You pause, unsure of how to delicately answer her question... SYSTEM: She frowns at the wording, baffled. After a moment, however, it dawns on her, and she barks out a grim laugh. SYSTEM: She glances back to the path leading further inside, and for the briefest of moments, smiles quietly to herself. SYSTEM: She stops, looking uncomfortable; however, when you inquire further, she just waves it off dismissively. SYSTEM: Artelinde smiles brightly, as if nothing had happened, and starts back on the path towards High Lagaard. The quest has been completed. You can choose to go back to the bar and report what happened. But, if you suspect there may be something more beyond the road she was gazing at, then you can choose to go investigate. Like the game says, we could either go back to the Stickleback and turn the quest in early, or we could try and find what Artelinde's looking for. I'm sure you can guess what I do from here.   SYSTEM: And indeed, you find something gleaming further within the brush!   SYSTEM: Could this be what Artelinde was searching for so ardently? As you ponder the hair ornament, monsters suddenly appear to ambush you! Noticing them at the last moment, you draw your weapons and face the beasts!  These are literally just a Crawler and Rafflesia with increased stats--even their skills are exactly the same.     SYSTEM: You look around warily, but you seem to be safe from further ambushes for now. You are still gripping the silver hair ornament tightly. As you note with relief that you didn't break or damage it, you suddenly feel some terrible threat imminent!  SYSTEM: For now, you see no enemy, but you don't doubt that whatever threatens you would eat you whole! SYSTEM: You have already completed your objective, and must now simply return the hair ornament to Artelinde! Though you don't know where she is to be found... Perhaps you should head to the bar for now.    SYSTEM: Artelinde stole your Silver Hairpin!    We get more Holy Gifts and EXP for finding the Silver Hairpin.  Hazy Arrow now deals 549% damage.     SYSTEM: The winged one repeats his familiar request. SYSTEM: When you produce the Ancient Periapt given to you by the Duke's daughter, he seems surprised. SYSTEM: The clearly excited winged one gives you an appraising look. SYSTEM: Canaan points to the forest behind him, speaking slowly. SYSTEM: Canaan continues, as if testing your resolve. SYSTEM: With that, Canaan spreads his formidable black wings.            Physical Guards reduce all Cut/Stab/Bash damage to the holder by 10%. They're pretty trash, yeah. More importantly, though...         Standard setup.  Bah.   Realga's on Blast Grenade duty.   Both Stardust and Ranger's damage is slightly hampered by the Luminous Bird having 75% resistance to all elemental damage.      Delayed Chase's second hit actually ends up outdamaging Fire Wave due to the fact that it's Cut+Elem composite damage.  Between the Luminous Bird being blinded and Nadia turning on Illusion Step, she has a practically guaranteed setup for Hazy Arrow...if the bird targets her.      Even when his damage is cut by 25%, Ranger still hurts like a truck.  Ranger's got enough TP left that I feel he can justify using Extend.  I can finally show off Hazy Arrow now.   Granted, Nadia is hitting a 150% Stab resistance, but still, drat.    Extend resets Transform's duration back to 3 turns, essentially giving you two extra turns at no extra Force cost.         Cockatrice HP: 1729, STR: 41, TEC: 31, VIT: 32, AGI: 27, LUC: 35 Skills:
Disable resistances: A large bird-like creature that is known to petrify its foes. Cockatrices aren't that big a threat on their own, but can be real nuisances in fights with other monsters, since petrification is basically instant death. Carrying around some Therica Bs from here until the end of the stratum is a necessity, since while Realga can treat petrification with Refresh, we're kind of screwed if she gets petrified and I have no Therica Bs.            Well, this is a pretty crappy situation. The idea behind this puzzle is you have to evade the Luminous Bird while also going down the one-tile-wide pathway such that the Enraged Raptor won't catch you.  And I've basically sandwiched myself here.   Back to town, then.   I normally have a pretty large patience for FOE puzzles...    But I just opted to kill the Luminous Bird this time.   I will never say no to more Return Flutes.       Great Frog HP: 10979, STR: 45, TEC: 36, VIT: 38, AGI: 34, LUC: 35 Skills:
Disable resistances: Their leap attacks tend to ward off attackers, but if not, these frogs will cry out for aid. Great Frogs can only do two things: summon helpers on the first turn (we'll see them very soon), and Jump. After they've summoned the helpers, they will literally never do anything but Jump. Do you have Front Guard? Great, this thing's easy to deal with. If not? Your frontliners can probably survive the primary hit, but make sure you keep up on healing their HP in that case.  150% Bash resistance means that Realga gets some bonus damage on the frog.  Keep an eye on Ranger's Force gauge throughout the fight, incidentally.    Delusion Frog HP: 1680, STR: 31, TEC: 27, VIT: 28, AGI: 23, LUC: 33 Skills:
Disable resistances: Adventurers who are struck by his tongue go mad, behaving as though possessed. The Delusion Frogs are bigger threats than the Great Frog, since there's four of them, and both the damage and curse inflictions stack up after a little bit. I made a mistake by having Stardust cast Compression, since she and Rheine could've just nuked down the Delusion Frogs in the span of 2 or so turns.  Summer Rain's actually not that optimal of a choice for dealing with the Delusion Frogs, since it's limited to 16 hits at a max of 4 per target.  I've never understood why frogs in EO always have a weakness to Bash.   Well, she got all of the Delusion Frogs really low, I suppose.   Ouch.   At least neither of these two are my primary damage dealers.  I opt for the lazy man's option for purging off the curses and healing up everyone.  A quick checkup on Ranger's Force.  Stardust is still under the effects of Compression, but this should be able to finish off the Delusion Frogs.       5 turns, and Ranger has over half his Force back--bear in mind, he's only under the effects of a level 5 Morale Boost and level 1 Force Mastery.         9 turns, and Ranger now has all his Force back, after starting the fight at 0.  There's not much left of 20F after this room, so I just have Rheine use Proof of Nobility so I can get some TP back.  Better.    ...Oh, screw it, we can take one of these things.   Enraged Raptor HP: 9418, STR: 47, TEC: 39, VIT: 37, AGI: 35, LUC: 40 Skills:
Disable resistances: A bird of prey that stuns its enemies with large gusts of wind before slashing at them. I normally wouldn't risk fighting these things since Gale Wings (110% damage) plus 47 STR plus 40 LUC plus 80% blind chance = extreme pain. I'm banking on Nadia getting a paralysis off, otherwise I'm just gonna Return Flute out of here.  Ranger immediately transforms since he really needs the extra HP to not die to Gale Wings.  I really hope this works.  Welp, that was a nice life--   ...Alright then. I have never seen an Enraged Raptor open with anything but Gale Wings.   This should be good.  Paralysis is the superior debuff to blind right now, since it not only means the bird has a 50% chance to not act, it also means that any attacks against it don't check for accuracy at all--a really nice thing when you're potentially dealing with blind. As for why it's superior to blind, it's because the accuracy check bypass works both ways--if I blinded the Enraged Raptor, it'd still be able to hit anyone in our party who's also blinded.  Perfect timing.   Nadia's damage almost seems piddly, in comparison.  I'm pretty sure we'll kill this thing before Transform's over.  Getting Rheine that Volt Prelude Grimoire was one of the best decisions I ever made.     Force Mastery now increases Ranger's Force gain by 5%.  And Morale Boost provides a 13% bonus of the same kind. I normally wouldn't cut an update in the middle of the floor, but this one's getting a bit long in the tooth. Next time: we finish (most) of 20F.
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May 16, 2016 21:58
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Update 41: Yggdrasil's Apex     Mad Crawler HP: 779, STR: 40, TEC: 29, VIT: 31, AGI: 26, LUC: 31 Skills:
Disable resistances: A giant caterpillar whose sharp fangs are no trifling matter. Mad Crawlers are another enemy I hate. Crazed Fang hurts like hell to begin with and fear really sucks to get hit by as well. Combined with Wind Cutters or, god forbid, Great Moths, they can pretty easily cause a game over or two.  At least their low VIT and low HP means they don't take hits well--that's basically 50% of the thing's HP.   I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but petrified party members do get one positive effect, weirdly enough: they take half damage from all sources.        Refresh now targets a row instead of just one party member, but also now costs 20 TP.  This event occurs automatically as soon as we enter this small area. SYSTEM: The air is thin at this high altitude, but your breathing is surprisingly easy. If you wish, you can rest from your long walk here and spend some time enjoying the breathtaking sight. SYSTEM: Thinking this the perfect place to rest, the party takes a seat. You take a long, soothing rest as you enjoy the cool breeze.   SYSTEM: All agree that it was a well-deserved break, but just as you prepare to resume your trek... Suddenly, you feel a piercing gaze directed toward you from the area's center! https://zippy.gfycat.com/FaintTameBordercollie.webm (No GIF version available)  SYSTEM: Though it is still far away, the sight of it chills you to your core! The monster with the brilliantly-colored wings must be the Queen of the Skies you are tasked with defeating! SYSTEM: You wait, half paralyzed with dread, but the winged monster shows no sign of approaching your party. For that matter, you have no means of getting at it easily either. You decide that your best recourse would be to search for a path leading to where the Queen of the Skies awaits. It's as the game says: we have no way to get to Harpuia's platform from here. Just off-screen are some stairs going down; remember all the empty central areas on previous floors? We gotta go through those before we get to Harpuia.   Before that, though, let's map out the small northern area. This frog's really easy to bait into an empty space. Just walk to this corner, walk forward, walk back, and it'll jump off the edge.   I would've rather had a Unihorn for Harpuia.    Everyone's Force was either empty or broken, so I decided to go back to town before finishing the 4th Stratum.   Let's get this over with.   SYSTEM: You expect that it must feel quite refreshing to let out a good, solid yell in such a place. Eh, why not? SYSTEM: You give into your rising impulse and shout at the top of your lungs! Your voice echoes, as if melting into the blue sky, before silence settles back in. After having to mind every breath while traveling the forest, it is quite liberating to yell in such a carefree manner.  SYSTEM: You may try it once more if you wish, or go back to your investigation. SYSTEM: You cannot shake the worry that a monster may have heard your yell and is headed your way even now. You hastily leave the area to avoid any needless battles.   The only FOE in the 19F central area is this Enraged Raptor, who goes down one part of the last pathway.    Night Flower HP: 446, STR: 34, TEC: 30, VIT: 26, AGI: 30, LUC: 34 Skills:
Disable resistances: A flower that blooms in the moonlight and lulls its victims into an eternal slumber. Night Flowers are really loving dangerous when paired up with one or more Mad Crawlers. Sleep will turn Crazed Fang into a one-hit kill. Mercifully, just one cast of Inferno Formula or Link Order II (Fire) will kill them. Getting that conditional is incredibly difficult at the moment, since Nadia only has one point in Sleep Arrow.  Fantastic way to start.        The Take point here is an extra source of Big Strawberries, which I very much appreciate.   These "backtrack" areas really don't take very long.       Taking the previous platform up and to the fight leads to this glorious treasure.   Halfway there, basically.       The Cranial Hammer has a 30% base chance to inflict head bind on normal attacks. It's going in the garbage as soon as I get back to town.   Really not worth walking over all those damage tiles.     The stairs here are the way forward, but there's some basically-optional parts on 16F that I want to map out.   The lower set of stairs just leads to this small island with a shortcut.   The upper set leads here.   SYSTEM: For just an instant, you think you see something like the silhouette of a fish in the sky near your feet. SYSTEM: You have never heard of a fish that swims in the sky before, but this is uncharted territory... It would not surprise you to come across such a fish here! You consider casting a line in pursuit of this new discovery. SYSTEM: You each try dropping a fishing line into the sky spreading beneath you. ...After some time, there is a mighty tug on Nadia's fishing rod! One of the sky fish has taken the bait! SYSTEM: The fish struggles mightily, dragging the line left and right! Nadia patiently keeps pace with the fish's movement until the line stops moving, and then quickly reels it in! But at that moment, you hear something snap, and the weight on the line mysteriously vanishes. SYSTEM: Still pulling on the rod, Nadia falls backwards and hits their head on the hard, stone ground!  SYSTEM: As Nadia sits back up, still in pain from the fall, you find a tree branch caught on the end of the line. It seems you mistook the strong pull of the hook getting caught on a branch for the writhing of a fish... SYSTEM: Though you are at first dejected, you then see that the branch is one of the rarer materials found in this Stratum!  SYSTEM: You did not make the new discovery you hoped to, but you have a rare material, and that is cause enough for joy as you go.   This is the only other notable thing on the floor.   The stairs leading up from 17F just goes to this small central area. All you have to do is ride a platform down, right, and up again.   This happens as soon as we enter the area. SYSTEM: You look up to see Canaan, chief of the winged ones whom you spoke with at the entrance. He flies down towards you and executes a graceful landing.  SYSTEM: His voice carries sincere respect for your victory over the Labyrinth's hardships. SYSTEM: Canaan looks at you, awaiting your first question.  Let's ask all three. SYSTEM: Canaan answers your query in a proud tone of voice. SYSTEM: Canaan holds his head high as he speaks. You doubt you can learn anything concrete. SYSTEM: You ask the chief of the winged ones about the voice of the Star. He looks up into the sky and gives it some thought before slowly responding. SYSTEM: Canaan breathes a deep sigh. You are more curious than ever to know why they carried humans to the castle in the sky... You consider asking Canaan, but you doubt he will speak any more of the matter. SYSTEM: Canaan's face takes on a stern cast before he continues. SYSTEM: The winged one smiles and continues with his speech. That's quite possibly the most literal metaphor for a skill I've ever seen. The skill's even called Shrill Cry, for god's sake. SYSTEM: After delivering this warning, Canaan blesses you and promises to pray for your safety. SYSTEM: With no further questions to pose to Canaan, you thank him for the information. Canaan acknowledges your thanks with a nod and points to the stairs behind him. SYSTEM: Canaan slowly rises into the air, looking down after you until he vanishes.  SYSTEM: You can ascend the stairs and challenge the Queen of the Skies, or head to High Lagaard and prepare.   As soon as we step on the platform and it finishes its path...   SYSTEM: But though it sees you, the Queen makes no move and stays serenely in its airborne position. She is beautiful to behold, but you feel as if a prolonged gaze at her would cause your sanity to ebb. You shake off the curious feeling and prepare for battle! A powerful foe stands before you to be defeated!  Oh boy.  Jesus christ. Well, all that money must mean some good Grimoire Trade opportunities opened up.  Ooh, that's nice. I trade some duplicate level 9 and 8 Grimoires for the Curse Mastery.  And a level 8 monster Grimoire for this Curb ATK Up.  ...Wait a minute.   Holy poo poo. I loving attracted Legendary explorers by accident. If you didn't read the Grimorie mechanics post, here's a quick summary: to generate these guys, not only do you have to bring in at least 300 customers across 3 districts, but the ones digits of your monsters hunted and steps taken stats on your Guild Card must match up too. I got some fantastic effects, too. Force Up is absolute trash, but Auto-Heal and Self-Heal Amp are anything but. I trade for every single Grimoire from both of the holders of those effects. Ursa is now several times stronger than she was before--Beasts end up with quite a few unused Grimoire slots that you usually just put some passives on, and these are basically the strongest possible passives. Seriously, holy loving poo poo, that was so goddamned lucky.   Let's cook some stuff to celebrate. Strawberry-Jam Loin Steak increases each party member's VIT by 10. Definitely the least useful of the stat-up foods, but I guess it's kinda nice if you have a really flimsy party for some hosed up reason.   Stone Bird Nikujaga doubles the chance that generated Grimoires will have an additional effect on them. Again, if you're going Grimoire hunting, there's little reason not to use the Yggdrasil Clover Tea, if you have it.   Pepper Cockatrice gives each party member 80% resistance to Curse. There's pretty much just one boss fight where this is useful.   Oh, hey, my luck didn't end with the Grimoires--the giant population group of the Slums and the Gourmet King both showed up at the same time.   There's a festival going on in Uptown, too.   There's only a small group in the North Ward, but at least there's a festival.   Then, I (basically randomly) did the last upgrade for the Slums, since I wanted to get the most out of the combination of things going on in it. And that's it for now. Next time: Harpuia, Queen of the Skies.[ Rea fucked around with this message at 10:31 on May 17, 2016 |
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May 17, 2016 07:53
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Harpuia pre-fight overview Harpuia HP: 19660, STR: 45, TEC: 45, VIT: 41, AGI: 38, LUC: 45 Skills:
Disable resistances: AI pattern:
The queen of the skies, whose beguiling shriek must be silenced if you hope to claim a feather... Harpuia is an oddity. She's pretty widely regarded as a joke, especially after Scylla, mostly because her skillset is very small, and fairly easily countered. Her entire thing is having a pretty wide variety of disables that she can inflict: she has access to blind, paralysis, fear, and all three types of binds. You might look at that and assume that'd be difficult to counter, but it's actually simpler than you'd think. Shrill Cry's fear is the #1 thing you want to avoid, since it's her highest base infliction chance at 60%, which is then boosted by her high LUC--you can take care of this either through Barrier, Prevent Order, or Scorpion Plumes. Hell, you don't even need to outfit your entire party with Scorpion Plumes--you could just put one on a Medic, and have them use a party-target Refresh, since Shrill Cry will outspeed Refresh. Claws of Despair's paralysis should be second in "ailments to block" priorities, since it's a debilitating ailment. Barrier and Prevent Order are, again, answers to that, along with Mushroom Pins--keep in mind that characters can only equip one accessory at a time, though. As for Claws of Despair itself, it hurts, and can one-shot less-sturdy classes in some instances, but as long as it doesn't target the same person twice, you can probably just heal it up. Storm Feather's blind is the lowest priority ailment here, since none of Harpuia's attacks rely on disabling your evasion, and while your damage dealers getting tagged with blind sucks, it's the least annoying to get rid of, since it's not debilitating. As for the damage, like Claws of Despair, it's healable, although having a Beast tank it with Hit-Taker is basically a death sentence. Feast is basically Harpuia's signature skill, and it's really strange, as you can probably tell from how long its skill description is. It's really unnotable for the first two casts, but after that, it actually does start to become a very real threat. ...Though, if you let the Harpuia fight go on for 4+ casts of Feast, your party is probably ill-put together anyway, and you probably have bigger problems than Feast. Also, note that while the base bind chance is 10%, Harpuia precedes both of her HP-based casts of Feast with Chaos Scream--I don't know if the resistance decrease is applied before or after LUC adjustments, but my point is that you should be on your toes for those instances. Chaos Scream really loving sucks and it's why I heavily advocate for either bringing along a Sovereign or some Unihorns, since it can effectively make some of Harpuia's disables guaranteed against classes with low LUC, and still uncomfortably high otherwise. You could also just block it by casting Health Requiem (the one time that dumb bugged spell is useful), but that's not an option here, because... Damage dealers Defense Supports Vote for a maximum of five characters, with at least 1 character from each category.
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May 17, 2016 07:53
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Zack, Phoebe, Asriel, Rheine, Jackie The composition I beat the game with.
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May 17, 2016 07:56
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Asriel, Tyler, Freyja, Ursa, and Sophie.
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May 17, 2016 08:00
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Jackie, Phoebe, Rheine, Zach, Stardust
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May 17, 2016 08:14
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Zack, Stardust, Ursa, Rheine, and Jackie Chase Team ahoy!
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May 17, 2016 09:16
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Zack, Ursa, Stardust, Rheine, Phobe. I'm sure this will either go horribly wrong or horribly right.
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May 17, 2016 09:25
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Tyler, Colette, Ursa, Sophie, Jackie. I can't help but feel like I'm missing something with this party, but I'll be damned if I know what.
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May 17, 2016 12:13
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Stardust, Ursa, Sophie, Freyja, Jackie
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May 17, 2016 16:04
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Freyja, Stardust, Jackie, Ursa, Sophie
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May 17, 2016 16:42
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BlackPersona posted:Zack, Stardust, Ursa, Rheine, and Jackie
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May 17, 2016 17:35
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Hmm, who haven't we seen for a while? Zack, Tyler, Phoebe, Sophie, Colette
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May 17, 2016 18:32
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Jackie, Asriel, Phoebe, Nadia.
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May 17, 2016 18:37
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Current results are:quote:Jackie: 8 Anyone not listed has no votes.
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May 17, 2016 18:42
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Stardust, Jackie, Phoebe, Sophie, Colette
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May 17, 2016 22:24
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Freyja and Sophie but the rest is up to you.
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May 18, 2016 00:52
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Since you can use Ariadne Threads from anywhere, it doesn't seem that hard to make your step count and monster hunt match up. Unless you can't check your guild card in the dungeon.
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May 18, 2016 00:56
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Glazius posted:Since you can use Ariadne Threads from anywhere, it doesn't seem that hard to make your step count and monster hunt match up. The problem is syncing up leaving the Labyrinth with when the ad campaign ends and both of those ones digits match up--remember that time passes during battles. In other news, voting is closed. Final tally: quote:Jackie: 9 Anyone not listed has no votes. The final determination of who got out of that tie was decided arbitrarily, based on my own preferences. The Harpuia party is: Zack, Rheine, Stardust, Sophie, Jackie. Where we're going, we don't need defense. 
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May 18, 2016 01:02
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Update 42: Battle at Yggdrasil's Apex We're finishing the 4th Stratum today. Harpuia is all that stands between us and the floating castle.     I got a little ahead of myself and bought Zack his ultimate non-body armor already since it only cost 130k en. As for his skills, I rested him to reset his focus from sword skills to the chasers plus some points in Axe Mastery for bonus damage. If you're wondering why I went with axes instead of swords, it's because axes generally hit harder than swords do. I also opted to max out Triple Charge because the chasers cost 30 TP at level 20--that will drain Zack dry incredibly quickly if I just spam it, so I can use Triple Charge to lose out on 20% damage per turn in exchange for spending 42 TP every 2 turns instead of 60. Zack is kind of the cornerstone of this entire party--basically everyone but Sophie is in here because they can provide fodder for Volt Chaser.     I rested Rheine mostly to focus her build on Attack Order, Link Order, and Morale Boost.     Stardust took a rest to reallocate her points in Inferno and Cocytus Formulas into the palm skills. Additional Palm is a really easy way to get as much damage out of a Chaser as possible, plus the nature of palms being low-TP cost means Stardust can spam compressed formulas for the duration of Analysis, and then switch to the palms so she doesn't run out of TP before the fight's over. All those random Grimoires are for the Volt Up effect, by the way.     Sophie is the one party member here that I didn't rest before this fight. I put her new skill points into Madness Curse, since it's a good idea for her to have access to a debilitating ailment that isn't fear, in case an enemy (like, coincidentally, Harpuia) is immune to fear.     Jackie has Charged Volt and Burst Shot both maxed out now. Lastly, before we go up to fight the Queen of the Skies, I ate the LUC +10 food so that Sophie's chance of inflicting stuff on Harpuia is raised, since Harpuia has 25% resistance to a LOT of disables.    VIDEO: Boss Fight: Harpuia     A quick refresher on Harpuia's stats: quote:
 Since Stardust needs a turn to set up Compression, I'll have Zack also take a turn to use Triple Charge.  Prevent Order is basically a necessity here, to stop Shrill Cry.  Same as ever.  Madness Curse will stop Harpuia from doing anything dangerous for a few turns while I get some binds off.  I'd rather let Burst Shot get the bonus activation from Action Boost.      Even with Creeping Curse in effect, that was lucky.      Let it begin.  While those three start the chase chain, Sophie will try to bind Harpuia.    While that kind of hurts, it's significantly better than being on the receiving end of Claws of Despair or Storm Feather while lacking a defensive support.  That was, also, very lucky.          Gunners are really good in chaser parties since Action Boost's second hit is a separate action, meaning it procs chasers twice. Under the effects of Triple Charge and Full Charge, with only 3 of the 5 chases possible on that turn, Zack did 2026 damage. That is pretty drat good, especially for a class that's normally on the low end of total damage per turn.  Now that Attack Order's in effect, Rheine can contribute some damage of her own, and provide another chase opportunity.  Leg binds are next on Sophie's itinerary of disables.  Burst Shot has a cooldown, so Jackie has to swap to Charged Volt now.  My luck is bordering on "suspicious" now.           Stardust might be the only one dealing big nukes, but the damage from everyone else racks up--Zack just did 1514 damage, and that was without using Triple Charge.  Sophie's actually running out of things to inflict. Bear in mind that Harpuia is still panicked.   Well, the panic wore off, but look at that. The only damage buff I have is Attack Order level 10 (30%), and we've whittled down Harpuia's HP to this little in just 4 turns.  This is somewhat dumb, since TP conservation isn't really a concern right now--Harpuia's going to die really soon, definitely before Zack runs out of TP.  Now that Analysis and Compression have both run out of duration, I decided that Stardust should switch to demonstrating Volt Palm.   What you can't see here is that Volt Palm also has two extra effects: it increases the damage Stardust's next action will deal by 20%, and also adds a Volt element to whatever her next attack is.     Additional Palm activates whenever Stardust uses a palm skill, and deals some extra damage of the same element as the used palm skill at the end of the turn. Again, this is a separate action, and procs another chase.  Yeah, it's over by this point.    That was really easy. I even got the conditional!  SYSTEM: You have defeated the dreadful tyrant reigning over this Stratum! SYSTEM: As you shout for joy in celebration of your victory, a figure descends from above.  SYSTEM: You recognize the voice of the winged ones's chief, Canaan, as he appears before you. SYSTEM: Canaan regards you, impressed, before looking up into the forest and continuing. SYSTEM: With that said, Canaan points further within. You may continue deeper into the Labyrinth, or head back to High Lagaard to prepare.   We have now (almost) completely explored Yggdrasil. Onto the castle!      Welcome to the final stratum of the main story.      SYSTEM: No one is nearby, and the strong wind roars around you, yet the mysterious voice goes on. You ponder an appropriate response to the one who calls himself Overlord... SYSTEM: You allude to the ancient pact which seemed to pacify the winged ones. The mysterious voice falls silent for a time before speaking again. SYSTEM: The voice continues in a scornful, condescending tone. SYSTEM: The mysterious voice falls silent after this. You wonder whether you should continue down the path or use caution and return to High Lagaard.   Heavenly Keep in the original EO2 looked eye-searingly ugly, which basically necessitated a complete redesign. I wouldn't really call it nice to look at like Petal Bridge was, but I still really dig the design of EO2U Heavenly Keep--especially the stained glass (you can kind of see some at the top of the image there), which was nigh-unseeable in EO2.     Selling Harpuia's drops.   Oh, that's right. I never did check on Quona's FOEbucks dialogue, did I?  Her normal 21F dialogue.     21F bar patrons. Boy with a stick: Tipsy lady:     Jesus, that's a lot of new quests. No Ginnungagap quest this time, though. That DLC quest, incidentally, recommends your party be level 85 or higher. Yeah, no. Haute cuisine: ...gently caress. The last ad campaign (turned in off screen) made almost 100k en. God loving dammit, I should've just waited till now to turn it in. The Test of Courage: the most of a certain kind of monster in the forest, on the 17th floor. Anyways, yeh can get details on the 17th floor. A guard's takin' registrations there, so he'll tell yeh all about it.   This is a real fucker of a quest, and one of the few ones where I'd be perfectly fine with taking a lesser reward. Yes, it's a variable reward quest. Labyrinth groundskeeping:    It's pretty much like Cass said: there's an extra spot that he didn't mark, which will give us more reward if we take care of it. In the cold, white night:  Let's do what Cass said before we close out for now. Man, that was a lot of quest dialogue. Next time: we start exploring the Heavenly Keep. Rea fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Jun 13, 2016 |
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May 18, 2016 07:40
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A new stratum means it's time for a new party. Hard to believe we're already basically 60% done with the game, huh? Vote for a maximum of five characters. Feel free to vote for the same character multiple times.
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May 18, 2016 07:41
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Ragnar Homsar posted:
In the Stickleback Bar, a mysterious alchemist twiddles a chess piece between his fingers. "But of course!" He chuckles knowingly to himself. "It's only right that my impeccable design sense be properly appreciated." "Shut the gently caress up, Bellamy." says a Hexer eating next to him. Bellamy stops, rears up for a scream, and lets out a whimpering "okay" before returning to staring at his chess piece dejectedly. ...uh, Phoebe, Ursa, Tyler, Colette, Nadia.
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May 18, 2016 08:28
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 What sacrifices did you make to your voodoo god to land that many ailments and binds?As for voting, I feel like we haven't seen Tyler in a while, so Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, and Ursa.
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May 18, 2016 10:05
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Tyler, Ursa, Phoebe, Colette, Nadia
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May 18, 2016 10:17
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Heaven's Rock Seat.  Argent Cinereus posted:Tyler, Ursa, Phoebe, Colette, Nadia
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May 18, 2016 15:28
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Tyler, Rheine, Stardust, Jackie, Asriel
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May 18, 2016 15:31
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Jackie, Asriel, Jackie, Tyler, Jackie
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May 18, 2016 17:50
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One day, I'll find the secret to your luck with landing these ailments and murdering these bosses in single-digit turns. Phoebe, Sophie, Frejya, Sophie, Phoebe. Is it just me, or has it been a while since Phoebe's been out?
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May 18, 2016 17:57
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| # ? May 29, 2024 21:42 |
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Jackie, Tyler++, Phoebe++
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May 18, 2016 20:28
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